The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl on a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can. When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will only talk to Harry.

It’s entertaining enough but difficult to escape the idea of the traditional model of detectives being sent to Australia at the end of their careers rather than at the beginning. Can’t really complain though and a decent start to what is a pretty good series of books featuring Harry Hole who becomes a rather compelling character.

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley

Denis Stone, a naive young poet, is invited to stay at Crome, a country house renowned for its gatherings of ‘bright young things’. His hosts, Henry Wimbush and his exotic wife Priscilla, are joined by a party of colourful guests whose intrigues and opinions ensure Denis’s stay is a memorable one.

Huxley’s debut novel is a satirical flight through a 1920s gathering of bright young things at Crome, home of the Wimbushes. Denis Stone, the innocent young poet, recounts the action and really has very little positive to say about most of his fellow guests. The back story of the previous Crome owners is very entertaining although the line taken by one guest, the improbably named Mr Barbecue-Smith, on higher education is unfortunate: “illuminating, but provoking the Lower Classes to discontent and revolution”

Share this:

Like this:

The Hero by Somerset Maugham

Decorated Boer war veteran returns home to his small village to a hero’s welcome. He realises he no longer wants to marry his fiancee who has waited faithfully for him so he breaks off the engagement, much to the distress of his parents and the whole community. He feels profoundly affected by his war experience and continues to struggle to come to terms with a world which hasn’t changed.

It’s a quick read, well crafted and really quite poignant. Maugham captures well the torment and oppression of the returning hero to his small town and his ensuing relationship turmoil.

Share this:

Like this:

Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall Smith

Have recently rattled through a subset of the full Scotland Street series:

The Importance of Being Seven:

Despite inhabiting a great city renowned for its impeccable restraint, the extended family of 44 Scotland Street is trembling on the brink of reckless self-indulgence. Matthew and Elspeth receive startling – and expensive – news on a visit to the Infirmary, Angus and Domenica are contemplating an Italian ménage a trois, and even Big Lou is overheard discussing cosmetic surgery. But when Bertie Pollock – six years old and impatient to be seven – mislays his meddling mother Irene one afternoon, a valuable lesson is learned: that wish-fulfilment is a dangerous business.

Bertie Plays the Blues:

Even down to its well-set Georgian townhouses, Edinburgh is a hymn to measure and harmony. But on Scotland Street, domestic accord is in short supply. Matthew and Elspeth welcome three new arrivals, though the joys of multiple parenthood are somewhat lost due to sleep deprivation and the difficulties of telling their brood apart. Angus and Domenica are to marry, and Domenica has ambitious and disturbing plans for their living arrangements, especially when it appears that Antonia, in Italy recuperating from Stendhal Syndrome, may not return. And little Bertie, feeling blue, puts himself up for adoption on eBay. Can Edinburgh’s most deliciously dysfunctional residents forsake discord and learn to dance to the same happy tune?

Sunshine on Scotland Street:

Scotland Street witnesses the wedding of the century of Angus Lordie to Domenica Macdonald, but as the newlyweds depart on honeymoon Edinburgh is in disarray. Recovering from the trauma of being best man, Matthew is taken up by a Dane called Bo, while Cyril eludes his dog-sitter and embarks on an odyssey involving fox-holes and the official residence of a cardinal. Narcissist Bruce meets his match in the form of a sinister doppelganger; Bertie, set up by his mother for fresh embarrassment at school, yearns for freedom; and Big Lou goes viral. But the residents of Scotland Street rally, and order – and Cyril – is restored by the combined effects of understanding, kindness, and, most of all, friendship.

With great characters and entertaining plotting this really is a series which keeps on giving. Originally published as weekly instalments in the newspaper (and they may still be) they retain a feel of a series of interconnecting episodes. If you’ve not read any of these before then it’s time to catch up with all of the Scotland Street fun and games.